Home draw vital for Munster, says Flannery

JERRY FLANNERY has vowed that Munster will bring the same intensity of performance and singular focus they demonstrated ahead of last Friday night’s victory over the Sale Sharks when they travel to the Stade de Sapiac to take on Montauban this weekend.

The Munster and Ireland hooker maintains the fact Munster have already qualified for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup won’t deflect from their primary ambition of securing a home quarter-final.

Montauban demonstrated in the reverse fixture at the start of the campaign that they can prove difficult opponents, pushing their hosts that day uncomfortably close before losing 19-17.

Flannery explained: “The job isn’t done yet. Beating Sale was all about getting some pride back in playing at Thomond Park. We are all very much aware this is only the first step and there is still another pool match to go.

“A home draw in the quarter-finals means so much – it is massive. However, we went away and won last year, although with the recession on at the moment everyone wants to get a home fixture for the fans.”

Munster’s victory over Sale was watched by a record attendance for a European game at the newly revamped Thomond Park (26,000), a passionate backdrop the team would hope to enjoy in a quarter-final tie.

Flannery was quick to scotch the idea that their Limerick citadel was less foreboding for visiting teams since the redevelopment.

“There has been a lot of emphasis put on the change of Thomond Park since it was redeveloped. But Thomond Park has been built on the performances of the Munster players.

“There hasn’t been much change in the way the supporters back us, nor in the actual building. If anyone has been questioned it has been the players. We knew our performance against Ulster was completely unacceptable.”

Munster have no injury concerns arising from the Sale match and will announce a squad for the trip to France on Thursday.

Interestingly, Montauban have avoided potentially losing their place in the French T14 Championship because they could balance their books after an 11th hour financial rescue package to alleviate a €1.2 million budget deficit.

The club’s president Patrick Vianco made the announcement with just an hour to spare before the deadline ran out. He explained that a group of 40 friends of the club dug into their pockets to contribute €400,000 and also promised that the on-field future of the club – coaches Laurent Labit and Laurent Travers head for Castres in the summer – would be sorted out by February 15th.